A wonderful world of ramblings

The Most Beautiful Train Journey in the World

Now I’ve written this title I’ve probably jinxed it, but to me the train journey from Oslo to Bergen is the most beautiful route I have ever and will ever see. “Come on!” I hear you cry: it’s a train journey, how could anyone find it this exciting? You are sat waiting to reach your destination for 6 hours when you could have just flown in 2. But believe you me, it is sooo worth it.

As someone who has gone from hating flying to feeling generally a bit iffy with the concept, I will take any get out option if I can afford it and luckily the flight is about the same price as the train. My lovely Oslo pal in the trip-prep also found this article on Lonely Planet, reiterating how gorgeous this journey was: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/norway/travel-tips-and-articles/76243. So what is this post? Basically me just emphasising this point even further.

I will admit, I was a little worried when it came to catching the train. A large proportion of the Norwegians at Oslo Train Station were getting on with ski suits, ski masks, skis and, well, everything skiing related. Meanwhile, I was getting on with my flimsy waterproof and bare ankles. I felt totally unprepared! Was Bergen a city drowning in snow that I was just gonna sink in?! It is fair to say I didn’t really research the journey itself, but luckily Bergen was just a standard lovely rainy, windy city instead – of course.

However, back to the journey itself! In order to get to Bergen, the train route goes up in altitude before coming back down to the final destination. It begins looking like an elaborate Lake District, with the vast greenery, lakes and spots of snow. It is also worth giving a big shout out to the Norwegian man who pointed out the biggest ski jump in the world, which I would have just missed without even knowing! The landscape became increasingly doused in snow and at 990 moh (meters above sea level), the view from the window was just a giant white abyss. For someone who gets hyped over a little bit of snow* (see my post on my excitement for snow in Denmark), this was SOMETHING ELSE!

The snow was taller than me, giant icicles hung from the trees and the snowsuits and skis suddenly made a lot of sense! It was absolutely incredible.

*And I travelled through Voss which made me weirdly happy to see where a bottled water comes from…

Unfortunately I didn’t have a window seat but that wasn’t too much of a problem so if you ever get the chance, don’t worry too much about it as no matter where you sit you will be able to see the amazing views around you. I also suffered from sitting next to possibly the most annoying tourist ever, which is rich coming from myself. You may think that I’m exaggerating a little and maybe I am, but sitting next to a girl who decides to open and eat a tin of pretty stinky fish at the beginning of the trip, and take out the whole window with her rather over-the-top photo taking was a little much! I’m such a hypocrite.